The impeachment charges related to an affair he had with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Here's what you need to know.
Why was Bill Clinton impeached?
The House of Representatives impeached Bill Clinton – the 42nd American President – on December 19, 1998.
It was based on two charges – one of perjury and one of obstruction of justice in connection with an extramarital affair with then 22-year-old Monica Lewinsky.
The House voted 228 to 206 in favour of the first charge, and 221 to 212 on the second.
At the time, Clinton's approval rating as president was at 72 per cent.
Two other impeachment articles – a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of power – failed to pass in the House.
Initially Clinton denied the affair with the former White House intern.
He became the first sitting president to testify before a grand jury and after questioning, he admitted on national television he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky.
When the case reached trial at the Senate, it failed to reach the two-third majority backing needed to pass the order.
Mr Clinton – now aged 72 – was acquitted on February 12, 1999, and remained in office.
What was the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal?
Bill Clinton, then 49, and 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky started a sexual relationship in 1995.
Lewinsky claimed she had sexual encounters with the President on nine occasions, until March 1997, and said First Lady Hillary Clinton was at the White House for a portion of those.
She confided about the relationship to Linda Tripp – her defence department co-worker, who secretly recorded telephone conversations.
Tripp later discovered that Lewinsky had sworn an affidavit in the Paula Jones case – a former Arkansas state employee who was suing Clinton for sexual harassment.
Lewinsky had attempted to persuade Tripp to commit perjury in the Jones case but instead she delivered the tapes to Kenneth Starr – who was investigating Clinton on other allegations.
The affair first came to light on the Drudge Report in 1998 before reaching the mainstream press.
Clinton was quick to deny the affair and even gave a White House press conference beside his wife stating that the allegations were false.
There was months of speculation but nothing could be definitely established as Lewinsky was unwilling to discuss the affair.
In July 1998, Lewinsky received total witness immunity in exchange for grand jury testament about her relationship with Clinton.
Clinton admitted the affair in taped grand jury testimony a few weeks later, stating he had an "improper physical relationship" with Lewinsky and later broadcast a televised statement nationally.
The Paula Jones case was eventually dismissed in court but while the dismissal was on appeal, Clinton paid an out-of-court settlement of $850,000 (£652,000).
Lewinsky went on to become an American TV personality and fashion designer.
Have any other US presidents been impeached?
Aside from Clinton, only one other president has been impeached in America's history.
Andrew Johnson, who served as president for four years from 1865, was the first.
He was impeached by the House in 1868 – just 11 days after he got rid of his secretary of war Edwin Stanton.
The two-thirds majority needed to get rid of him in the Senate was missed by just one vote.
Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached over the Watergate scandal.
Elsewhere, South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached over an alleged corruption scandal following months of protest.
She became the first democratically-elected leader of the country to be ousted from office after judges upheld a politicians' vote to impeach her.
More than 890,000 people have signed a petition calling for Donald Trump to be impeached, which sprung up almost immediately after he was inaugurated as President.
Democrat Robert Reich, who served in the Clinton administration, claims there are four grounds on which Trump could potentially be impeached.
The first, according to Reich, is his shocking claim that President Obama ordered his phones to be wire-tapped without providing any evidence.
Secondly, he says the constitution forbids government officials from taking things of value, but claims Trump is “steering foreign diplomatic delegations” to his Trump International Hotel.
China recently granted preliminary approval for dozens of Trump-branded businesses, including new hotels, spas, massage parlours and personal security services.
Reich also said Trump’s ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries violates the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, which bans any law “respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.
What was his role in Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement?
The former US President's influence on the peace process in Northern Ireland was pivotal to ensuring all parties reached an agreement.
In 1995, he visited Northern Ireland, and spoke in favour of the "peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast's City Hall.
He famously called terrorists "yesterday's men" and later made a number of telephone calls to party leaders to encourage them to talk.
The former world leader also urged politicians to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
He told an audience in Dublin: "The Irish peace was born out of weariness of children dying and of lost chances.
"The further you get away from that, the easier it is to take the absence of bad for granted and to live in this purgatory we are in now."
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